All In a Matter of the Bears and the Bees
by Luck'sOcean
Summary: Nadette Melissa had been born into the small bee clan of Konoha. Her mother knew the Aburame's as true allies and friends and when something goes wrong in the bee clan Nadette has no other choice than to stay with Shibi and Shino. Shinoxoc -CH 3 UP!
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Nadette Melissa had been born into the small bee clan of Konoha who have long ago immigrated from a far away country. Her mother knew the Aburame's as true allies and friends and when something goes wrong Nadette has no other choice than to stay with Shino and Shibi. Includes ShinoxOC and flashbacks including ShibixOC

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor would I ever want to, considering the fact that there are way too many crack pairings floating around. Oh, how I would feel sorry for Kishimoto if he ever stumbled upon such things.

Notes: This is my first story and I hope to bring you guys enough awe and comedy so that I won't get flamed too harshly. But I can only hope. Be nice if you can. I am still trying to collect enough data about the Naruto world and I am trying my best.

The names of my OCs are linked with such meanings that include mythologies nonexistent to the Naruto world, however, I can be creative, now can't I? If anyone has any questions about these meanings or anything that may be linked to them I will try to answer the best I could.

I also tried not to make the main character, Nadette, such a Mary Sue (gawd I dislike that name very much). I will continuously try to include her in comical situations to get me to keep writing.

* * *

**All In a Matter of the Bears and the Bees**

Chapter 1: Recovery Time

She lied there, certain she was going to die from and extreme loss of blood. She had known that she sent a worker out to call for help but she wasn't sure if anyone would come to her aid in time.

Her skin began to buzz and ripple from the workers inhabiting her body. They were growing excited. She was too weak to even speak but she tried to drag herself to the front door with as much strength that she had. Of course her blond hair had been drenched with her own blood so it was hard to make anything out when her bangs got in her eyes. Could anything become any worse?

She tried very hard for the next moment to claw her way out of her blood stained home. She then fell on her face completely and curled up into fetal position, growing cold and faint. This wasn't good. Considering the fact that she inherited great height and strength from her family no human alive could live to stand the pain she was in.

Still curled up and whimpering from the pain she looked down to see her hacked up abdomen. Great. Just what any woman needed. If she would live through this then it's for certain that she would attain gruesome, scarred skin. "Damn," was all she could say.

She heard a growl outside and people speaking. No, more like shouting. Someone was coming after all.

Creak.

'Help me,' she thought. She was thankful that someone had come to her rescue. She was still too far away from her door way so she tried to speak once again.

"Ugghhh... He...lp..."

"I heard a sound over here," said a familiar male voice.

Tack. Tack. Tack.

She looked up to see her savior. Her vision was blurry of course but how could she forget those distinct features? Her savior happened to be Shibi Aburame, a close friend of her mother's. He was more like a caretaker to her when she was young whenever her parents had gone on missions. "Shino, help me get her up. We need to get her to the hospital right away."

'Oh, Shino's here as well. Great. How embarrassing,' she thought while faintly glancing over at the younger Aburame. He nodded to his father's request and quickly walked over to help pick her up. 'It's great to know that I need two men to pick me up. I can't be that tall...or heavy.'

"Hang in there, Nadette. We'll get you to the hospital shortly," Shibi said, trying to comfort her while picking her up. Shibi had gripped her underneath her arms and Shino got a hold of her lower abdomen. Nadette felt a little ticklish from their contact despite all the pain that she was going through.

Nadette was feeling rather heavy, even though others were lifting her. At this point she felt rather faint and just wanted to drift away to sleep. Before she let herself give in to her weakness she let a small grin seldom seen across her face. She was grateful.

She looked up at the starry sky for half a second that seemed like five minutes and then everything went black.

* * *

/

Nadette awoke in the hospital room with a pounding headache. Much to her surprise, Shino was sitting in a chair next to her bed. He just sat there expressionless as far as she can tell. She eyed him for a moment as he lifted a single brow in return. She also felt her breath becoming rather hot. It had to have been because half of her face was covered with a blanket.

Their exchanges were interrupted by people arguing in the hallway. She recognized Shibi's voice and her mother's voice as well. Apparently, her mother was arguing with a nurse to have her calm down.

Nadette stared at the door for a second and then stared out the window to her right side. It was a beautiful sunny day and she couldn't help but wonder why all of this bad luck just had to occur today, June 20th, the day of her birthday.

Shino finally spoke to her, "Happy birthday?" Nadette looked at him again, glaring. That was the most subtle gesture that a true Aburame member could think of.

"Thank you?" She replied weakly.

He nodded. She couldn't see most expressions on his face because of his high collar but she thought that he might have been frowning a little.

"What do you mean she was attacked? By whom?" A female voice yelled out in the hallway.

"I am not certain but calm yourself Artio," Shibi replied calmly.

"Fine," Artio finally composed herself.

The woman, Artio, just walked into the room, Shibi following. Her height was immensely emphasized when Shibi had stood next to her. She also had the same blond hair and golden and blue eyes as Nadette. Actually, Nadette resembled her almost completely, except for the fact that Nadette was gifted with a height difference of an inch or two taller than her own mother. Lovely.

"Nadette," Artio said slowly as she approached her brittle daughter.

"Mother," Nadette replied dryly, now focusing her gaze towards her.

Artio untied a large gourd that was placed on her back for her workers. She opened up the gourd and a small cloud of bees flew out and rushed onto Nadette. Both Shibi and Shino just stared at the display. The bees were forcing themselves into Nadette's skin to determine if anything could be fixed internally. The bees within Nadette's body hadn't retaliated, instead they sounded like they had a little argument and they began to repair Nadette's damaged innards.

"They will help you heal faster. Your bees are already doing what they can, however, it seems as though you lost a significant amount of them," Artio said and then sighed. She loosened her scarf.

"Would you like to sit down, Artio-sama?" Shino offered her his chair.

"Yes, thank you." She finally sat down and tried to calm down. Nadette could see the worry on her face. "So, Nadette, could you tell me what happened to you?"

Nadette still had a migraine but that wasn't enough of an excuse to answer to her mother. She let out a huge sigh and composed herself as well. "I came home after going out on a mission. I was so looking forward to sleeping because I was exhausted, so I headed to the kitchen for a glass of milk and tried to retrieve some honey from my gourd. Then I heard father come in through the door," Nadette looked down and paused. She seemed really upset about what she was about to say.

Shibi took a step forward and placed a hand on Artio's left shoulder, as if he knew what was going to be said. Artio began shaking from anxiety and she looked down with a scowl, trying to hide it, "Go on."

"He came in and put his hand around my neck, not really hard at first but then he tensed up. I had no time to react before he stabbed me with something. I tried my best to retaliate but then I was ambushed by three more men. I suspect that they might have been rogue ninja."

Artio was shaking with resentment. "I swear to god," she muttered then bolted up much to Shino and Shibi's surprise. "You are serious..."

"I am telling the truth, yes," Nadette replied, also with a tone of aggression.

Artio just stood there for a moment, not knowing what to think. She looked down at Nadette and glared at her wound while clenching her hand at her side. Some of her bees had escaped her body and they began swarming around her fist. She was angry indeed. "And did you summon Artaois?"

"I did. He fought them and protected me while I was down and managed to scare father and those men away. He tried to find help but he was too weak to go out and instead he directed some of my workers to find some help."

"I have no choice then. It must be done. Shibi-san, may I have a word with you?"

"Certainly." He followed her into the hallway. They were speaking in a low tone so that neither Shino nor Nadette could hear them.

Nadette sighed and tried to sit up in the bed. She was having a hard time trying to use her arms to push herself up but she finally managed.

"You shouldn't sit up. Why? Because you might strain your body and reopen your wounds." He walked closer to her bed and then took the chair that Artio was in.

Nadette glared at him with a most priceless expression on her face. "I will do what I please. Why? I would like to sit up and I don't want to develop bed sores," she retorted, trying to mock him. She scowled on then moved her legs to the side of the bed. She was attempting to stand up. She was determined to get out of her bed and start training right away. 'Ughh! I need to get out of here. I need to find that sorry excuse of a father.'

Shino's face was still expressionless but he stood up. "You should rest. You are not well."

"Shino-san..." She looked down at her wounded body and felt a little discouraged. She then looked up at him and replied, "You don't understand. I need to start training. I need to become stronger!"

"I do understand what events have just occurred and I can assure you that when you're properly healed you can get back on your feet slowly. Until then you need to rest."

"Please just move."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I already told you why. I wont explain myself again."

"I'm going to get up anyway. I don't mind if I have to walk over you," Nadette sounded more serious than before, even though she acknowledged that Shino was a few inches shorter than her. She wanted to feel superior in some way, why not bring up her height?

"I will not let you do that," he replied, sounding a little annoyed. A few of his kikaichu had crawled out from underneath his skin. Seconds later a whole cloud was surrounding his arms.

"Oh, I see how it is," her voice sounded a bit darker and tense. She tried to release a few of her own worker bees to even the match. They weren't responding to her call. She was really irritated at this point. "You have got to be kidding me."

She wasn't about to give up though. She stepped one foot on the floor followed by another and tried to stand. Her legs were so weak that she almost stumbled on the floor but she was caught by a cloud of kikaichu.

"I told you it wasn't a good idea," he said with a little amusement in his voice. He commanded his kikaichu to set her back down on the bed.

She glared at him again and huffed over her shoulder. She accepted defeat, blushed a bit and lied back down. "Well, if I am not able to stand could you at least retrieve my clothes? The nurse had folded them and set them on that table over there. I am not liking this hospital gown not one bit."

Shino finally nodded. He got up from his chair and walked over to the table that had her clothes, not really paying attention. The door suddenly opened right next to him and as he looked at the door he also had one of his hands on the stack of Nadette's clothes.

Shibi had walked through first and just stood there in front of Shino, gaping, "What are you doing, Shino?"

Shino then squinted his eyes behind his glasses and dared himself to look down at what he was touching.

It happened to be Nadette's panties.

Shino turned red and quickly withdrew his hand. Nadette sat there, chuckling. She stopped as soon as Shino turned his head to send daggers at her through his glare.

"She asked me to get her clothes for her..." Shino just stood there, not knowing what to do about the situation.

"Oh."

Shibi had cleared his throat so that he could speak and get rid of the awkward aura in the room. "Nadette, your mother has made a request that you stay with me for a while. I have accepted her request. She has already gone to your home to fetch some clothes and the things you might need."

Shino stood behind his father, both brows up.

Nadette just sat there for a moment. She didn't want to be rude to Shibi so she accepted to stay with him.

"Good. Well, I will be heading home already to start lunch. The nurse said that it would be alright for you to be sent home tomorrow after Lady Tsunade has a word with you. Shino, stay with her for now."

"Yes, father..." Shino replied sounding monotone. After Shibi had left the room Shino just glared at Nadette and blushed a little, while she was busting up laughing at the panty situation.

It was going to be a long day for both Shino and Nadette.

End Chapter 1


	2. Reassurance

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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**Chapter 2: Reassurance**

After a moment of laughter from the whole panty incident Nadette finally composed herself enough to wipe the single tear from the corner of her eye and looked up at Shino, still holding a slight grin.

"So, I take it you're not going to get my clothes for me from what event had occurred. Heh heh."

Shino still just stood there, blushing and silent.

"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. Truly. So you can stop sulking now," She let out a small chuckle and looked out the window again. She noticed that there was a slight breeze out but the weather still looked inviting to her.

"I don't sulk," Shino said, crossing his arms.

"Riiight," Nadette replied. She was still looking outside. The bee clan also had their own little quirks about them, not much surprise to the Aburame clan. They were also insect users and received the same amount of ridicule from outsiders. They were considered freaks, for a lack of better words.

"I will call the nurse to help you with your clothes and I will be waiting in the hallway if you need me," Shino said while already walking towards the door.

As soon as Shino walked out of the room Nadette sighed and muttered, "It seems as though the only time I need your help is only when I am in a vulnerable state. Let's keep it that way." She scowled at her own comment but didn't like to be seen weak, especially to people who cared for her and shared a common lifestyle.

The nurse walked in and closed the door behind her. Nadette had noticed the horror on her face from seeing the Aburame in the hallway and that boiled her up a bit. If it's one thing she couldn't stand it was discrimination.

"Alright, sweetie, could I get you to sit up for me and take off that gown?" The nurse was probably in her early twenties, or so she looked. Nadette could tell that she wasn't that much older than herself.

Nadette sat up, "Sweetie, huh..." The nurse seemed a little bothered by Nadette's last remark but Nadette could care less. With a little struggle Nadette had untied her gown and finally taken it off. Underneath her gown were some soaked, bloody bandages.

"I'll just change these for you so that you don't have to lay down in your own blood anymore," the nurse said.

"Sounds good," Nadette replied. Then she looked down at her legs just thinking about how much of a burden they have become in the last 24 hours. "Nurse?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I would really like to get some fresh air. Is it alright if I could use a wheelchair for a while?"

"Oh, no problem, honey," the nurse just finished up bandaging Nadette's abdomen and looked a little sickly because she saw bees in the wound. She shook the disgusted look off her face and went to go get her clothes for her. She first put on Nadette's panties and then her bra. They were matching royal blue colors, not really Nadette's favorite but that's what you get when your mother goes shopping for you. Nadette just closed her eyes so that she couldn't make eye contact with the nurse, thinking that this is all awkward. No one had seen her naked before and she knew that she was a nurse, but still, she liked having her modesty. The nurse finally put on the rest of her attire: a white tank-top, black Bermuda shorts and some flip-flops that her mother left for her.

"Oh, almost forgot your coat, dear." The nurse helped out on her favorite jacket. It had a big hood and was brown from the shoulders to mid belly and the color transitioned to yellow as the jacket extended to her mid thigh. It was more like a utility jacket, with a really nice short, soft fur lining as well and plenty of pockets for Nadette to store some of her favorite candies and other items.

"Thank you," Nadette said to the nurse while checking her pockets.

The nurse scowled to herself as Nadette had checked her pockets, thinking that she accused her of stealing something. "I'm sure everything that was left in your pockets should be there from when you were admitted." Nadette had just pulled out a piece of candy, not paying any attention to the nurse, just staring out the window. "I'll go get your friend now." She spun on her heel and quickly walked towards the door," Ugh, you insect freaks give me the creeps," she said underneath her breath.

Nadette hadn't missed a word that the nurse had mumbled but she didn't dare say anything back to her, because, after all, the nurse did help her. But she had all the right to say something, all this time she did, but what would be the point? If she threatened anyone in the least then she would be singled out as a freak and a monster even more so than now. So she just sat there still looking out the window while sucking on the sweet candy that she popped into her mouth.

***flashback***

Nadette ran up to the Aburame residence. The sun had just come up and she only hoped that she could visit her best friend. She knocked on the door a couple of times and finally someone had answered. It was Shibi Aburame.

"Hello, Nadette-chan. Are you here to play with Shino?

"Good morning, Shibi-sama," she smiled sweetly and nodded to his question. Shibi had let her inside and Shino had come downstairs from his room. She had noticed that he was wearing some sunglasses. "Hello, Shino-kun! Happy Birthday. Did you get those for your birthday?"

"Thank you and yes." He smiled at her. She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows, looking a little confused.

"So, what are you two going to do today?" Shibi asked, smiling down at them.

"We're going bug-hunting. See, I even brought my equipment." Nadette lifted up a small cage and a considerable-looking butterfly net.

"Alright. Have fun you two," Shibi said chuckling a little. "And stay out of trouble."

"Yes, dad!"

"Yes, Shibi-sama"

Shino and Nadette had made their way out of the house and started walking towards their destination.

"So how does it feel to be ten years old, Shino-kun?"

"It feels the same. How does it feel to still be nine?" He asked her teasingly.

"Hey! I'm only a couple of months younger than you, I'm not that young." She chuckled to herself and then quickly remarked," At least I'm not a small pipsqueak like you."

"Whatever," Shino replied gloomily.

"Oh, stop sulking, Shino-kun."

"I don't sulk." He turned away and blushed.

They walked on a little more and met up with a group of kids about their age, possibly a little older but not by much. "Hey, look it's the freaky bug kid!" The children were laughing at pointing towards Shino.

Shino just kept walking but Nadette had stopped and scowled at them, "Hey! That's not nice. He isn't a freak!" She held up a fist at them.

"Oh! Looks like the bug freak has a little girlfriend. She must be a monster too!" One of the kids yelled and pointed at Nadette. She was now glaring at them and stepped closer. Shino had now stopped walking and turned back to check out the situation.

"Don't you dare call him a freak! You don't even know him!"

The group of kids got even closer to her. "Whatcha gonna do about it, bug-lover?" Nadette just held her ground and still tried to explain herself. The leader of the group had walked up in front of her now, trying to be intimidating.

"Nadette, just leave them. They aren't worth your time," Shino said, sounding a little tense.

"Oh, he thinks he's better than us, huh?" The leader bellowed, "We'll show him!" He suddenly pushed Nadette to the ground and the rest of the gang followed behind him.

Shino released his Kikaichu on the boys just before they could strike at Nadette. The boys ran off within an instant. "Don't you dare touch her!" Shino shouted and quickly helped Nadette get up from the ground. He noticed a small, bloody welt just beside her right eye. "Nadette-kun, are you alright?"

She nodded and placed a finger on her face and lifted it up again to discover blood. She had a shocked look about her and cupped her face again with the same hand.

Shino quickly grabbed an old cloth from his backpack and some disinfectant. He started to poor some peroxide on the cloth to clean her wound and she noticed what he was doing and finally said," No. I will be alright. I don't need that."

"Yes, you do. You're bleeding," Shino sounded worried but didn't understand why she refused.

"No, I will be alright. Besides, you'll hurt my workers."

"You're workers?" Shino was very confused at this point.

"Yes, they help me recover from wounds faster than normal. See?" She lifted her hand from her eye and a few bees were crawling out from underneath her skin, rushing to the wound and repairing it slowly.

Shino was wide-eyed and just stared at Nadette. Now he understood. "You too? All this time?"

"Yes. See you're not a freak," she said smiling, "In fact, those other people are freaks because they don't have this gift that we do."

Shino paused for a moment and then looked up to her and smiled back.

***End Flashback***

Shino had just walked back into the room pushing a wheelchair and Nadette smiled at the idea of going out for some fresh air. "I take it you want to get out of here for some time?"

"Yes, if you don't mind." Nadette smiled up at him.

He moved the wheelchair towards the bed and braced himself to carry Nadette. She frowned, "Am I really that heavy?"

"No, I am just thinking how to best go about this without hurting you or making you feel uncomfortable."

Nadette just threw her hands up in the air and looked at him. He raised an brow at her action. "Well, go on. Under my arms is fine."

He hesitated for a second then finally went for it. He lifted her up under her arms and as he did so she snickered a little from being ticklish. He didn't hesitate to sit her in the chair though, tickling her would not be very appropriate and he didn't like human contact much, especially considering that she is a woman and is a good friend of his.

"Thank you," Nadette said in a bit of a lower tone.

Shino just nodded behind her and started to wheel her through the hospital. They of course had gotten a few unpleasant stares from both the hospital crew and patients. Shino was probably expressionless but Nadette glared at each person who dared to look her in the eyes. They all turned away quickly as soon as their gazes met. Shino's eyebrows lowered in frustration. They finally exited the hospital and Nadette took in a deep breath and then released it. Ah, the month of June.

"Where would you like to go?" Shino asked as he looked down at her.

"Hmm..." Nadette looked around, not really sure of where she wanted to go. All she knew was that she just wanted to _go_. "Places. Wherever," she finally said.

Shino was now gaping at her request. "I thought that since I wheeled you out here that you wanted to go somewhere specifically."

"I never said such a thing, now have I? Do your job and take me somewhere or I will tell your father."

"You plan to blackmail me?" Shino sounded irritated.

"No. Your father will simply ask me how my time was with you. I won't lie to him," Nadette looked smug.

"..." Shino paused for a moment, sighed and then started pushing her. While he had just started walking Nadette pulled a hair-tie out from her pocket and threw her hair in a somewhat loose bun with a few, long strands of hair sticking out with bangs covering her right eye.

Shino just looked ahead, not paying attention to her actions and noticed a booth with sweets and candies in it. He wheeled her towards it as she was just enjoying the stroll, oblivious to where they were going. He had stopped her next to a bench close to the booth and walked over to talk to the man inside. Nadette was curious but tried not to show expression. She reached inside her jacket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses with orange-yellow tint and put them on. Shino was done with his business and walked over to Nadette with a small bag in his hand. He had noticed that she put on her sunglasses but didn't give it any second thought.

"I didn't know you like sweets," she said with her eyebrows raised. Shino handed her the bag of sweets and sat down on the bench next to her. She was just about to say something before he interrupted.

"I know that you like sweets and I don't have much of a sweet-tooth but I bought these for you, considering it's your birthday. But don't ever expect me to get you any sweets any other time. They're bad for your teeth," he fixed his glasses with a single finger, "You're lucky it's your birthday otherwise I wouldn't be pushing you all around Konoha either."

"Thank you, Shino-san," she looked at him and smiled. He nodded back at her, said 'you're welcome' and crossed his arms. "Are you sure you don't want some? It's really good. Nice choice." She rustled in the bag some more until she pulled out a chocolate covered candy of some kind. She had a huge grin across her face just before she bit into the sweet morsel. He saw her take the first bite and was glad to know that she did enjoy it. Afterwards, he just looked straight forward and did a little bit of "people-watching".

Nadette suddenly remembered something and bolted up from her wheelchair. This action surprised Shino enough to make him flinch. "What are you doing?"

She looked him up and down with a smirk on her face. "Apparently I am standing. Wow, my workers are fast."

"You should still sit down."

"I should, shouldn't I? But I need to summon Artaois so that he wont be so worried about me. I will sit down afterwards."

Shino just shrugged. He knew that he couldn't stop her anyway so it was no use to try and sway her decision.

Nadette bit her thumb so that a miniscule amount of blood seeped out and she made a few hand signs, "Summoning Jutsu!" And with a cloud of smoke and a banging noise Artaois was summoned. The cloud of smoke had disappeared to reveal a brown bear cub who happened to look more like a black bear cub than brown.

"Oh, Nadette! You're alright! Thank goodness," the bear cub had a rather deep voice, that of an adult human. It was quite comical actually.

"I'm hangin' in there," she said while smiling and petting the cub on his head.

Shino was a slight bit confused. "Wait," he said. Artaois and Nadette suddenly stopped exchanging welcomings. "You are Artaois? I thought Artaois was a larger, full-grown bear that my father and I had seen last night."

"You are correct, young man. I am Artaois and I am capable of growing up to 20 feet standing. I came in this form just for convenience. Besides, I don't want to scare off all the children around here. That wouldn't be very nice, now would it?" He settled himself in Nadette's lap as soon as she made herself comfortable in the wheelchair yet again. "And happy birthday, hon!" Artaois hugged her and then backed up to where he was again, noticing that her wounds haven't healed much since the night before. He turned his head around and seemed a little worried, "How's Auberon doing? Where is he?"

Nadette was wide-eyed at this point. _'How could I forget about Auberon?'_ She frowned and her face turned white. "I-I don-"

"Auberon is doing alright. My father had taken him home last night. I imagine that he is with my father at the moment." Shino sounded as reassuring as an Aburame could.

"Thank you!" She turned to Shino, slightly shaking and was on the verge of tears, "Thank god he's alright." Nadette happened to be very protective and fond of her little brother. He was only ten years old and half her size but he was a very good person in her life. She pulled herself together as soon as she heard the good news about her brother.

Shino frowned behind his modest clothing but he nodded at her with confirmation. Nadette pulled out a tissue from her pocket and wiped her hidden emotions from her eyes.

Artaois then nodded and hugged Nadette to comfort her. He turned back at Shino, "Thank you, young Aburame for coming to her rescue. I am eternally grateful to you because of your actions. If anything were to happen to Nadette I don't know what I would do." Artaois bowed before Shino.

"Yes," Shino nodded at Artaois. Nadette was looking in a different direction now, focusing her gaze on a shinobi who was walking towards the three of them. He had a huge dog walking alongside him. Nadette was curious but hadn't shown interest in the other ninja. Shino then had noticed his comrade right after Nadette had and he just stared in his direction.

"Hey! Shino!" The ninja yelled, now jogging up to see him. Shino had said hello back to him and both Nadette and Artaois stared at the stranger. The dog walked up right next to him and got even closer to Nadette, sniffing her from a distance. Artaois growled, causing the dog to back up a little.

"Akamaru, you know better than that. Leave that woman be." Akamaru whined and tucked his tail between his legs.

"Humph, dogs," Artaois huffed at Akamaru's action which then made Akamaru growl at his statement. Kiba just stared at the bear cub, almost about to crack a smile from hearing it's manly voice.

"Are you with Shino?" Kiba turned towards Nadette.

"Yes as a friend of course. Otherwise, why else would I be sitting here beside this creepy looking Aburame?" Shino glared at her, "You have to admit you look like an exterminator." She looked in Shino's direction and then towards Kiba who had just been amused at this whole little conversation. He was smiling due to Nadette's little remark and then noticed that Shino looked a little irritated so he just focused his attention back on Nadette. "My name is Melissa Nadette. I am from the Mellifera clan," she replied almost sounding monotone.

"Inuzuka Kiba. I'm Shino's teammate. It's nice to meet you," he put out his hand so that she could shake it. She just stared at it for a moment.

"I'm not big on the whole hand-shaking thing. No offense of course," Nadette finally said. She bowed instead.

"Oh, it's alright. Everyone's different." He then noticed that she was sitting in a wheelchair, much to his surprise. "So what's up with the wheels?"

Both Nadette and Shino glared at Kiba through their sunglasses but they both appeared somewhat aloof. Nadette then pet Artaois on his head and said, "First of all, Kiba, such questions are quite uncomfortable or trivial for the party receiving that kind of remark and second, you may want to ask if it's alright to then continue on with your question, as the person you are speaking with may feel a little discouraged. It may bee a touchy subject for all parties involved." She then relaxed a bit after that and noticed that Kiba held an apologetic expression. "Relax," she said and then continued, "I wont bite, however, I will not answer that question at the moment considering that I have just met you."

"I-I'm sorry, Nadette-san. I didn't mean it that way."

"Yes, I know. It's alright."

Shino was beaming from what Nadette had told Kiba and began to compose his usual facial expression behind his high collar and black sunglasses. "Kiba, what brings you here anyway?"

"Oh, I'm just out for a walk after some training I did with Akamaru. Can't wait for tomorrow's mission, heh. We finally get something excited to do." Kiba jumped for joy and Akamaru barked along his side, also showing his excitement.

"Awww, so I won't have a personal slave tomorrow then, huh? Bummer." Shino knew that Nadette was being sarcastic but glared at her anyway and crossed his arms. Kiba just stared at the scene. "Aw, what's wrong, Shino-san? Were you looking forward to spending some quality waiting on hand an foot tomorrow?"

"You can't be serious, Hon..." Artaois was frowning at her comment.

Kiba faintly blushed and just gaped.

"I'm sure there are plenty of things that my father and your brother could find for you to occupy yourself with while I am away," he said while fixing his glasses. "Besides, you wouldn't want to get sick of being around me for a while. You know that I won't pamper you, instead, I would have you work."

Nadette just stared straight ahead, not looking at either Shino nor Kiba. Kiba was still as confused as he was before about who she was and how they both know each other well. He had to ask. "If you don't mind me asking," he said, trying to seem like he was reprimanding himself from asking ignorant questions, "how do you two know each other?"

Instead of saying anything to Kiba she had just released a couple of workers from underneath her skin. Kiba stared intently, looking a little surprised as Shino decided to speak, "We've known each other since childhood. Our clans are great allies."

"Wow, I didn't know that there was a bee clan living in Konoha."

"That's because generations ago, my clan had started falling apart and branching off with other clans. The biggest issue is that only females of my clan are considered 'hosts' for the bees. Less and less of our clan members through generations had produced females to actually carry out the bloodline limit. Our kin have also perished in battles, so that cut down a significant amount of bee users." She called her workers back to her and they made their way back inside of her. "As a result, both my mother and I are the only true members left."

Kiba looked down and felt somewhat sorry for Nadette. Shino just sat there, emotionless, as usual.

"It's alright though. I am basically the last one left to reproduce. My only option at this point is to also branch off with another clan and see what happens from there. There is no cure-all for genetics." She smiled and pet Artaois on the head again.

"No children anytime soon! I absolutely refuse!" Artaois crossed his arms and then looked over at Shino, "And you. Don't you even think about settling down with my Nadette. Not just yet. You have to talk with me first, young man. I mean it."

"I wouldn't dare to do such a thing," Shino said, now focusing his attention on Artaois.

"Hey, be nice to Shino. He's above that and you know it." She pulled on Artaois' ear to scold him. "And what do you mean 'I wouldn't dare do such a thing'?" Her voice had gotten a little louder when she questioned Shino's statement. He just sat there with is armed crossed, not saying a word. Nadette mentally frowned at his statement.

Kiba stood there, sweat-dropping and confused as ever. He then looked at the sky, noticing that the sun was close to setting. "Heh. Sorry to interrupt but I have to get going now. It's almost dinner time." Shino and Nadette nodded, dismissing him and Artaois just turned the other way. "You ready, buddy?" Kiba looked down at Akamaru as he barked back at him. They headed off after saying their final goodbyes.

"Well, now that I can stand I think it would be a great idea for me to exercise my legs a little bit and walk to the hospital." Nadette set Artaois on the ground and got up to stretch her arms and legs.

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Shino asked while also standing up.

"Yes, you should take things easy with that wound, Hon," Artaois agreed with Shino.

She mentally kicked herself for being so stubborn but she knew that she had to get things going really quickly. "I can handle it. Don't you two worry your little heads." She had a slight head start from the two and seemed a little hunched over as she was walking. She was a little down in spirit, after all.

Shino grabbed the wheelchair and pushed it behind Nadette so that he could return it to the hospital. Artaois then jumped on the wheelchair seat expecting a free ride.

"Lazy bear," Shino remarked.

Artaois ignored his statement and sniffed the summer air. Oh how bears were cheery during the summer time. He was definitely not looking forward to winter though, he wouldn't be able to visit Nadette because he would have to hibernate. His cousin could always be summoned, however, because he was a polar bear and they don't hibernate. He was jealous of that fact but grateful that Nadette had called on him the most.

Just before Nadette had reached the hospital corridor someone was calling her name from a distance. She as well as Shino and Artaois turned around to see a young blond boy with golden and blue eyes. Nadette had walked closer to the boy, realizing that the boy was her younger brother.

"Auberon!" Nadette called out to the boy as she started to pick up her pace. Both Shino and Artaois had turned around to catch up with her and that was almost impossible considering the fact that she had just began to run and they both knew that there was no stopping her now, not when she was sprinting as powerful as a charging rhino.

Nadette had finally met up with Auberon and she crouched over him. "Nadette! Are you okay?" Auberon, unlike Nadette and Artio, was prone to express more emotion. Nadette suddenly picked him up and threw him up in the air and caught him and did this about three more times. Auberon was laughing at his sister's playful side.

"Of course I'm okay! You should know that I will live for a while as long as you're here," Nadette set Auberon back on the ground, grinning wide. She was once again tearing up.

Shino and Artaois had just caught up with Nadette and stopped a couple of feet away from them to let them greet each other. Shino was smiling behind his high collar and Artaois was wagging his little stub of a tail.

"Lets get into the hospital room. I need to lie back down because I think I may have exerted too much strength from running to see you."

Auberon nodded and noticed Shino and Artaois. "Hello, Shino-sama!" He walked closer to Shino so that he stood in front of him. "Thank you for looking after my sister, I know that she can be stubborn sometimes."

Shino nodded, "You're welcome."

Nadette had just smiled and began walking towards the hospital. Auberon walked by her side and was smiling contently while Shino and Artaois followed closely behind.

They finally arrived in the room and Shino had helped Nadette lie back down. She thanked him and he nodded back at her. Shino had let Auberon sit in the chair so that he could visit with Nadette without standing. Auberon had reached into his bag and was looking for something.

"So how was your day, kiddo?" Nadette took off her glasses and coat to get more comfortable.

"It was good. Shibi-sama and I made you something. Here!" He handed her something wrapped up. Must've been food of some kind. "It's sweet cake. Happy birthday, Nadette." Auberon smiled sweetly. Shino had looked a little surprised.

"You've gotten plenty of sweets for your birthday. I will have to restrict you from sweets for the whole week," said Shino who now moved closer to Nadette.

"Yes, only you would be the one to take away my fun, eh Shino-san?" Nadette smiled at Shino and he nodded in agreement afterwards. She smirked at his action and began to become occupied with Auberon's rambling.

Shino had just stood back to look at the loving scene between siblings and he crossed his arms and just pondered. He was glad to see her after so long from being separated from her father. He was feeling happy and content that she was feeling happy after such a tragic event had just happened to her. He was also glad that he could spend more time with her because, after all, she was his best friend and he did miss her all those years that she wasn't allowed to see him. He was unsure, however, of how things would be while living with her. He knew that she hadn't changed much, temperament wise and that's something that he could probably work with, but he was really unsure about her life aside from family and being the Jonin that she was.

Shino just realized that it was time for him to leave to prepare for his mission tomorrow with Kiba and Hinata so he said his goodbyes and brought Auberon back home with him. On their way back, Auberon suddenly looked up at Shino and he looked back down at him with raised eyebrows.

"Shino-sama. Are you dating my sister?" Auberon smiled up at him.

Shino looked back up and it almost looked like his eyebrows were receding towards his hairline. "No. What would give you that idea?"

"Well, the way you take care of her. Not even Mum is that patient with Nadette." Auberon looked forward and then he looked a little confused, "Shibi-sama had also told me that you touched one of her panties earlier today. That's what boyfriends do, right? The touch their girlfriend's panties!"

Shino gawked and turned extremely red, "Don't be ridiculous. She simply asked me to get her clothes for her and that's what a went to go and do." He looked the other way from being embarrassed for having to explain the incident to her younger brother nonetheless.

"Heh heh. It's okay. I am just teasing you," He chuckled and looked up at Shino, "And besides, I wouldn't mind if you two were together. Nadette has told me many stories of when you guys were little and how you two always stood up for each other and protected one another. That seems like a really good companionship to me."

Shino stared straight ahead and he did think about it, but thinking was all he could do at the moment. _'Why would my father even mention that to him?' _Shino had face-palmed himself mentally at that point.

_**End Chapter 2**_

* * *

Thank you everyone for reviewing and for the hits! Much appreciated.

Notes: I tried to make chapter 2 a bit longer than the first one so that I could get my school work done. I'm extremely sorry if it seems really long and drawn out and I must admit that I didn't like this chapter as much.

I also added two new characters to the story and I plan on using them as much as I can.

It was a pleasure to write for you guys and don't forget to review so that I can see what needs to be done to make my work even better. Thank you.~


	3. A Not So Pleasant Surprise

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Note: I apologize for the long wait so I made this chapter even longer for those of you who are still following this story.

* * *

Chapter 3: A Not So Pleasant Surprise

"Hey, sleepy head! Wake up!" Artaois started pushing on Nadette to get her attention. She finally woke up, in a daze and noticed that her summoned bear was still with her.

"Hey," she said, rubbing her eyes, "what's up?"

"Lady Tsunade is here to speak with you. Don't tell me you have forgotten." He held a frown on his little cub face.

"Alright, alright! I'm up, I'm up!" Nadette yawned and stretched out her arms as far as she could. She put on her coat and was ready for whatever the Hokage wanted to speak with her about. "I'm really not a morning person."

Artaois shrugged, "And you're a jounin? I wonder how you pulled that off, Hon." Nadette shrugged herself and yawned once more and Artaois smiled at her. There was another knock on the door and Artaois told the visitor to come in.

Lady Tsunade had finally walked through the door and was scowling. Nadette noticed her agitation and sat up straight to show her convenience. Artaois climbed back onto Nadette's lap and stared at Tsunade with a blank expression.

"Well, good morning." Tsunade managed a smile when she greeted her.

"Good morning, Lady Tsunade. You wanted to speak with me about something? I take it that you have already covered some information with my mother."

"Well, yes. I have spoken with your mother and she gave me a brief description of what had happened but I would rather come and ask the source itself."

Nadette frowned, "What would you like to know?"

"Everything, if you don't mind telling me." Tsunade gave Nadette a sarcastic smile.

"Well, I had just gotten back from a mission from the Tea country, as you know. I came home, no one was there. I expected my mother to be on a mission herself and I also had thought that Auberon was at his friend's house, staying the night, but I wasn't completely sure. I was extremely overwhelmed from the mission that I just wanted to rest. I made myself a warm glass of milk and tried to extract some honey from my gourd. As soon as I had done that, my father had attacked me from behind, slicing my lower abdomen." Nadette put her right hand on her stomach, indicating what had happened.

"And there were other attackers aside from just your father?"

"Oh yes. There were about three other ninja from what I had seen. Before any of them could strike me I had summoned Artaois here to defend me. He managed to fight them off but he was in no state to take me to the hospital himself, so I directed my bees to follow his orders in hopes that someone would come to my rescue. Both Shibi and Shino had come to find me in my bloody state and they rushed me to the hospital."

"Well, something's not right here, obviously." Tsunade had taken a step back and placed her index finger on her chin. "Your father, Osamu Nori, was born here in Konoha. It doesn't make sense as to why he would do that. He came from the prestigious Osamu clan, known for their wealth and great taijustu skills. I wouldn't think that he would do that sort of thing to his own family." Tsunade had a sympathetic look about her. "Is there anything else you would like to add? Did he happen to say anything?"

Nadette looked up at Tsunade again but with the most animosity that she could show, "Before he had struck me with that weapon of his he paused for only a second and then called me a freak. It probably doesn't help any bit but that was all he had said to me during the attack."

Tsunade held a scowl. She didn't understand what his motive was, nor did she understand why he had done that to his own flesh and blood. She was disgusted at the thought and clenched her fist.

"Something wrong, Lady Tsunade?" Nadette had calmed down at this point and was being comforted by Artaois who just dug his head into her chest, cuddling and hugging her the most he could.

"I also wanted to tell you something else." Tsunade had loosened her clenched fists and now straightened her back. "Your mother came to me and explained this situation. She of course wanted to go out searching for Nori for revenge but I am still considering the matter. I have no idea what she is up to now, but I can tell that she has her mind set on that matter alone. I also sent an investigation team to your residence to collect as much information as I could, until then you are not to go back to your house, under any circumstance." She then fixed herself to get ready to leave.

Nadette just nodded in return. She didn't know what to say.

"If you find out anything else then let me know. You are free to leave the hospital now since you have healed nicely. Those bees take good care of you I see." She smiled and headed for the door and just before she had walked out she said another thing, "You're a strong kunoichi and a good-willed person. There's no need for you to be meddling in such awful affairs anyway. Take the day to rest and take care of your little brother. He needs you the most right now." And with a blink of an eye she had disappeared from the room.

Nadette just blinked for a moment after that and then she looked down at Artaois, indicating that they should leave.

* * *

Kiba, Hinata and Shino were treading through a dense forest, trying to find their way to their meeting point with their client. Shino was ahead of the group as always and being the team leader he had, of course, felt obligated to keep his teammates in line.

"How much further, Shino-kun?" Hinata looked ahead, curious of course. They had left early in the morning to meet with this client and were expecting this mission to be a short one.

"I estimate about another half a mile until our destination," Shino said, still looking forward.

"So, how's your friend, Shino? Is she doing any better?" Kiba asked, curiously. Akamaru barked behind him and Hinata looked over at Kiba, wondering what he was talking about.

"I imagine she has not healed completely but she should have been making her way to my house by now."

Kiba looked surprised. "So, she's staying with you and your father?"

Shino was silent but nodded anyway.

Hinata was really curious by now, but didn't say anything because she had thought that it was none of her business. Kiba noticed her curiosity and walked closer to Hinata to explain about the girl he had met with Shino yesterday.

"Melissa Nadette? From the Mellifera clan?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah, and apparently she uses bees just like Shino uses kikaichu." Hinata looked a little surprised but kept up her pace.

" I know! I was surprised too when I found out. I had no idea that there was another clan that used insects." Kiba then had a mischievous look about him and then walked faster to catch up with Shino. He had put a hand on Shino's shoulder and then snickered, "So, are you two like uh, you know?"

Hinata turned red at Kiba's comment.

"I know, what?" Shino asked, now lowering his brow and still pacing.

"Are you two, you know. Going steady. Getting to second base, beating chee-"

Hinata almost passed out from the embarrassment.

"Remove your hand from me now, Kiba," Shino sounded intimidating and slapped Kiba's hand off of him," and for your information, no, we are just friends. Not that that is any of your business to ask anyway." Shino now fastened his pace a little to gain some personal space from Kiba.

"Alright! Sheesh. You don't have to be all moody like that." Kiba had now backed off and Akamaru had walked alongside him barking in content.

Hinata shook her head from the oncoming blushing and fidgeted as she usually did.

The team walked a little further and finally reached their destination point. No one was there as far as they could tell.

"Hinata," Shino said dryly and she caught on to his command.

"Byakuugan!" She looked around the clearing and there was no one to be seen. "I don't see anything."

"Something fishy is going on around here." Kiba scowled and he tried to pick up any scents. He then noticed some new, yet familiar scent. "Wait", he said sniffing, "Akamaru, do you smell that?" The dog sniffed just a little ahead of Shino and barked to confirm the familiar scent.

"Well, what is it?"

"I knew it smelled familiar." Kiba then looked over at Shino, who stared back. "I can smell Nadette-san's scent around here. There's also another scent, more overpowering than hers but I can for sure smell her."

"What? That's impossible. She should be in Konoha right now." Shino lowered his tone and then scowled behind his high collar. "We've been set up and I think I know who it is."

"What? Who? How do you know?" Hinata asked, sounding worried.

Shino had sent some of his kikaichu out to spy for him, "Osamu Nori."

"Who? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Osamu Nori is Nadette-san's father. The reason why she was hospitalized was because he had attacked her in their home two nights back. For some reason he has a beef with my clan as well as his own family." His kikaichu had returned to him and they picked up something odd. "Someone is tied up far away in the cave. There are no men around and there are no traps."

Kiba and Hinata nodded just as Shino took lead. They followed right behind him as they traveled lightly through the forest. They had finally reached the cave entrance and scanned the area once more. Nothing in sight. Shino had decided to go in first and Hinata and Kiba decided to stay at lookout for a little bit.

When Shino had entered the cave he noticed a slight groaning noise come from deep within. He snuck over and noticed a rather older looking man who was tied up tightly to a small shack. "Help me, you have to get me out of here," the man said.

Shino had untied him and carried him out on his back. He met up with Hinata and Kiba once again and they were happy that nothing had gone wrong. Shino had set the man on a large tree branch and stepped back to scan him.

"Thank you for saving me. I am Shigeo", the man said with an appreciative tone. "You are the three ninja who had been assigned to this mission, I take it."

"Yes", Kiba replied, "But why were you tied up like that sir?"

"I don't know why but about three other ninja had mugged me and tied me up in that cave, hoping that I would never be found. I was tending to my rice paddies when they had confronted me."

"Do you recall what they looked like?"

"They were all wearing masks so I couldn't see their faces. They said something about someone named Nori and went on and on about him." The old man just shrugged.

Shino's eye twitched behind his glasses while Hinata and Kiba had serious faces. There was nothing that they could do at this point to look for Nori and they were on a mission for this man. Shino had fixed his glasses and composed himself by crossing his arms.

"Well, there's nothing that we could do about it right now, however, seeing that you are alright we might as well continue on with the mission."

Shiego then spoke, "Right, well, as you know in the description I hired you three to help escort me to the tea country for a funeral that I must attend. We are more than halfway there so it shouldn't be a problem."

"It can be a problem if we run into more enemy ninja", Kiba remarked.

"This is why I hired you on. You must protect me on the way there." Shiego smiled and tampered with his wrinkled shirt. "So, eh...How do you expect me to get down from this tree?" Shiego sweat-dropped while scratching his head.

"Hold on, sir." Kiba made Shiego grab onto his back so that he could get Shiego down quicker. Shino and Hinata obviously followed behind. They began walking towards the tea country when they had noticed a humongous white bear running at their side. Akamaru had jumped a little, noticing how huge the bear was and the rest of the gang had just stopped in their tracks. The bear had stopped right in front of them and lowered his head to sniff at them. Hinata, Kiba and Shino went into their defensive stances to protect Shiego.

"Konohagakure shinobi, huh?" The bear spoke with a very deep male voice while sniffing at them more. "Hmmm..." The bear then got closer to Shino especially and sniffed even more. They all noticed his scarred face. "You smell faintly of young Nadette. Could you be an Aburame I wonder?" Shino was still tense but he hadn't let his guard down.

"Yes, Aburame Shino."

"Oh, young Nadette has told me much of you a while back." The bear sat now and looked like how a dog was sitting. "I am Arthur," the bear bowed and put a paw to his chest to show his human traits.

"Arthur? What kind of a name is that?" Kiba mocked the bear's name while letting out a snicker.

"I am a summoning animal from a different world. Our names vary in that world, however, I was named after a great King." Arthur showed his pride by smiling.

"So, you are with Artio-sama?" Shino questioned him.

The polar bear didn't respond to Shino's question and instead got up and turned the other way and flicked his ears as if he heard something far away. "I must go now, but I am sure that we will see each other again." And with that said the bear ran off into the woods even faster than before.

Kiba, Hinata and Shiego just stood there gaping at the surrealistic moment that had just happened. Shino just fixed his glasses and continued walking on. He was shortly followed by the rest of the group. 'This isn't good. Artio-sama is here somewhere and she isn't happy'. "Let's keep moving, we've almost reached our destination."

* * *

There was a knock on the door and Shibi answered it to find out that it had been Nadette.

"Good morning, Nadette-san. Come in."

Nadette had walked in to find that the house was empty of any company, much to her surprise. Usually there would be other Aburame members hanging about the compound, but today might not have been the day. Shibi read her through her glancing about the room and he spoke up," Usually the rest of my clan is here as well, however, they went out for a two day trip yesterday just as Auberon arrived. They should be back sometime tomorrow but there were easily two rooms to spare for you and your brother."

She was a little reluctant to see that Auberon wasn't there but she knew that he was at the academy. Shibi led her upstairs to the room that she would stay in. It was right next to Auberon's room and right across from Shino's room. Shibi preferred to sleep downstairs for some reason, probably to get things started in the compound right away in the mornings. When Nadette had gone in her room she noticed that there was nothing in there except for a bed set, a night stand and a poster on the wall of two mating butterflies with the caption: Love Bugs.

"The hell?" At some point in her life she must beat Shibi over the head with that poster. The Aburame's had no sense of style whatsoever in Nadette's eyes and even though they were insect handlers a stupid poster like that would give others really bad first impressions. "First on my to-do list while I'm here is to cover up that poster with something else." Nadette sweat-dropped and Artaois just chuckled.

She had noticed that the closet door was wide open and had a couple of boxes in them, she presumed her clothes? She opened up one of the boxes to find her gourd, some of her scrolls, a couple of pairs of her shoes and other trinkets that she had in her room. She suspected that the other boxes had clothes in them and she was right when she opened them.

Artaois had made himself comfortable on Nadette's bed and yawned to himself. She started to take her clothes out of the boxes, folded them then put them into the small nightstand beside her bed. All of her shoes went into the closet as well as some scrolls. The then picked up her gourd and strapped it to her back like she always did. A few of her bees had made their way out from her skin and they were letting Nadette know that they would like to start producing honey. She gladly accepted their request and opened up the top of the gourd with ease.

After placing her clothes and other things where she desired them to be she opened the box with all the trinkets again. At least her mother was thoughtful enough to bring her lovely nostalgic objects. She found some sketch books and her pencils and other crafts and put them on top of the nightstand. Nadette enjoyed to draw, even if she wasn't the greatest, she had thought that she had somewhat of a small artistic side to her.

Just to refresh some of her old memories she had opened one of her older sketch books. She flipped through a couple of pages that had bears drawn on it, bees of course and the usual fantasy creatures that a young girl would draw. She then came upon a page that had been drawn by both Shino and herself. There was a poorly drawn tree, a grassy field and there was a bee and a beetle. Nadette smiled to herself, remembering about who drew what.

***flashback***

"What are you drawing?" Shino looked over Nadette's shoulder curiously.

"I don't know yet. I just start with a line and see where it takes me," Nadette said back, still focusing on the work in progress.

Shino then placed himself in front of Nadette, still looking at her drawing. He could tell that she was drawing a bear. "You draw really well."

"Eh, not really. I just like to doodle," Nadette smiled at him with the cutest ten year old grin, "Do you want to draw too, Shino-kun?"

"I'm not good at drawing."

"Who cares, it's not like I'm going to make fun of you. Here, I have another pencil." Nadette handed Shino her other pencil and he nodded when he accepted it. "Let's start on a new page." Nadette flipped the page to a fresh one. "What to draw, what to draw?"

Shino was also contemplating the same thing. "I know, I haven't drawn a kikaichu yet, I'll draw one of those." She began drawing and Shino just studied it for a minute before he began drawing. He decided to draw a bee then since Nadette wanted to draw one of his kikaichu. He had a hard time with it and kept erasing when Nadette interrupted him. "That looks more like a butterfly."

Shino frowned and said, " I am trying. Besides, I can't draw as well as you can."

"I know, I could take a bee out and you can take a kikaichu out and we can study them." Shino nodded and made a kikaichu crawl out from his skin and onto the floor next to the sketch book. Nadette had done the same with her bee and when the two insects met each other it seemed as though they were having a little argument. Nadette sweat-dropped and Shino frowned.

"I don't think they like each other very much."

"They are different species, it only makes sense. Besides, your workers are female and females like to argue," Shino said, noticing their quarrel.

"Who told you that? That's not true! Not all females argue like that." Nadette glared at Shino.

"You just did."

"I shared my opinion."

"Touché."

Nadette sighed and stopped drawing the kikaichu. "I'm done. How about you?"

Shino was still drawing and covered it up from Nadette so that she couldn't see it. She was curious to the point where she started tugging on Shino's coat. "Lemme see. It can't be that bad."

Shino finally finished the last part and then lifted his hand revealing a mediocre drawing of a bee. He had also written Nadette's name over it.

"That's pretty good for someone who doesn't know how to draw." Nadette snickered.

"It's still not as good as yours though," Shino admitted, still frowning.

"No, sulking, Shino-kun. I complimented you."

"I don't sulk."

"Riiight." Nadette then started drawing grass underneath the insects while Shino began drawing a tree. They had both finished the drawing after moments of waiting on Shino.

"I think I'm going to save this drawing," Nadette said while smiling and holding up the picture.

Shino just sat there and stared up at her. He didn't understand why she would want to keep it. He drew his part horribly. "Why do you want to keep it? It looks horrible."

"No, it doesn't," Nadette smiled at Shino, "I can at least save this as a progress picture to see if I have improved my skill." Shino had a confused look on his face. "Besides, this was fun. I like drawing with you, Shino-kun," she paused for a moment and then looked at the picture, "Oh, wait, it's missing something."

Nadette had written Shino's name above the kikaichu that she drew. "You know, Shino-kun. You have way better handwriting than I do. You write like a girl! Ha ha!"

Shino fixed his glasses then crossed his arms, "At least my writing is legible."

Nadette gaped at his statement and looked down to compare both handwriting. He was right!

***end flashback***

Nadette had taken the picture and held it up. "Hmm. I think I should cover up that creepy poster with this." She took the tacks off from the poster and placed her drawing in front of it and finally tacked them both together. The original "Love Bugs" poster wasn't completely covered but that didn't really matter to her.

She went back to the box that was still minutes away from being unpacked and noticed that her mother packed her black, curved ocarina. Nadette picked it up and chuckled at this joyous moment. Artaois just stared at her and finally yawned. Nadette had put the ocarina to her lips but then realized that she should put the rest of her stuff away first before she plays around. She unpacked a few other meaningless items and a piggy-bank that was shaped as a black bear with a bee on it's nose that was from when she was about five years old. It was rather large and she hadn't taken any money out since then. She placed it in her closet next to her shoes.

As soon as she folded up the cardboard boxes and stored them into her closet, she picked up her ocarina once more and started playing. She remembered a rather foresty, nostalgic tune and played that song first. As soon as she started playing most of her workers had escaped from her body and were swarming calmly around her, as if they were dancing to the tune. Artaois started swaying his head side-to-side and smiled, letting himself fall into a peaceful sleep.

Shibi had heard this tune from downstairs and enjoyed it. He didn't really react to it much but it made cooking a lot more enjoyable for him rather than having no noise or no company. He had been a little more lonely since Shino became a genin and went on missions frequently even though the clan members were often about. Shibi and Shino's relationship was a golden one, something that most fathers and sons don't experience.

Nadette had stopped playing her ocarina and decided to come downstairs to visit with Shibi for a little bit. She decided that since he took her in for a while that she could at least grace everyone with her presence. As soon as she walked off the last step the aroma of spices and beef had fancied her hunger. She remembered that she hadn't eaten anything since the night before in the hospital and she was much more accustomed to a little more flavorful meals.

"Are you hungry? I made beef stew." Shibi turned to her as soon as she walked around the corner.

"I am famished, actually and I would love some stew," Nadette smiled at him and he nodded back at her. He fixed her up a bowl of some stew and set it on the table for her then he went back to the pot and did the same for himself. "Thank you, Shibi-sama. It smells delicious."

"It's a special Aburame recipe that has been passed down from generations. I remember serving you this same meal when you were a young girl," he said while sitting down and rearranging the silverware. Who knew an Aburame could be so proper.

Nadette had taken a bite of the special stew and her tongue entered in extreme ecstasy while her taste buds were tickled from the taste of sweet and spicy juices. She really enjoyed Shibi's cooking because when she was younger she had spent most of her time at the Aburame's due to her mother and father almost always being gone. She almost began to tear up from Shibi's kindness and hospitality.

"Is the stew too spicy for you?" Shibi said after finishing a spoonful of food. He patted his lips afterward with a pristine looking napkin.

Nadette had sucked up and composed herself so that she couldn't show any emotion, "I am just grateful is all. Thank you," she turned to Shibi and grinned sweetly.

He nodded in return, "You know that you are always welcome here. The Aburame clan as well as myself always enjoyed your company."

She looked away when he had said that and just worked on finishing her stew. Shibi had finished before she had and he turned to her again, "After Auberon gets out of class today I would like to take you two out for a little stroll in the forest. You don't have to go if you don't feel inclined to."

"I would like that very much."

Shibi nodded and took his empty dish to the sink. As soon as Nadette finished she had took hers as well and washed it out. Above the sink there were a couple of pictures of young Shino and Shibi's family. Nadette thought that his wife was exuberantly beautiful. She had wondered where she was. Maybe off on that trip with the other Aburames? She smiled at the family picture and wished that her family had some of their own.

* * *

"Well, that was quite the adventure," Kiba baffled.

He started pacing slowly behind Hinata and Shino. Shino was in a little of a rush and Hinata and Kiba noticed his fluster.

"S-Shino-kun, you're walking rather fast. Is something wrong?" Hinata asked, trying to keep up with him.

"I'm just cautious. Why? Because I know that giant bear that we met earlier was with Nadette's mother and she is searching for Nori. He may be close by so see to it that you two are also cautious." Shino fixed his glasses and kept at his regular pace.

Kiba had glared at him and Hinata just nodded. The team had already made it out of the tea country and were heading back to Konoha to report back in to Tsunade. They decided to take the road in order to pass any unwanted attention. They all of a sudden heard a loud 'boom' in the distance and Hinata had automatically activated her Byakuugan.

"I see an explosion of some kind far off in the forest. There are three ninja waiting alongside the path that we are taking."

"We must not make ourselves seen." After listening to Shino's command everyone had quickly made their way into the forest. They still tried to make their way back to the Leaf Village because it would be a burden for them to stay out camping, waiting for the ninja to clear out. They al of a sudden heard a bell ring so they stopped in their tracks. Shino had immediately sent his kikaichu to search for any possible threats, Hinata kept her Byakuugan activated and Kiba and Akamaru were sniffing around.

"We triggered their trap," Shino said just before the three of them had to dodge a paper-bomb tied to a kunai knife.

The three had split up and hid themselves in bushes or well covered canopy tops to try and fool the attackers. They were still close by each other enough to make sure that they wouldn't fall further into another ambush.

Suddenly, the three ninja had headed their way to investigate the area that they had set up a trap in. They were still very cautious because they knew that hey had spotted other ninja a while back just moments ago where they had set up camp.

"Come out, we know you're there!" One of them said with a maniacal tone, snickering. He looked rather pale and a little sickly looking. The others looked like they were in better shape but they all seemed like they had bad ambitions. One of the other ninja had sensed Kiba and Akamaru and threw a kunai in their direction. Both of them had to jump out in the open from dodging the weapon.

"What do you want with us? We are just passing by!" Kiba held his ground and glared at the three other ninja.

The sickly ninja, presumably the leader of the group had noticed Kiba's headband. "Oh, so you're leaf ninja. See, we were going to let you guys go after we would mug you, however, considering that you're from Konoha, well, we have no choice than to kill you. Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Shino decided to reveal himself at this point to back up Kiba. "If it's a fight you want, you're going to get it. However, we will not let you live either." Shino fixed his glasses.

The sickly man smiled and snickered, "I'll take this one, he seems the strongest of the group but still looks like a weakling." The sickly man then threw another kunai at Shino. Obviously Shino had dodged it. One of the other men then went after Kiba, using the same tactic as the leader. They were trying to push the three apart from each other.

"There's still another one out there, Kuma. Look for her!" The sickly man called out to the last ninja standing. He was rather tall and looked rather muscular to the point where it looked like he could crack a coconut between his biceps. Kuma had jumped from branch to branch to search for Hinata while Shino and Kiba were busy with their own opponents.

'He's getting closer', Hinata thought while opening her palms for a surprise attack. She figured that since she didn't know how he attacked that she would try to weaken his chakra points in his body. She had learned very much by watching Neji spar with her father and she finally had the chance to put her skills to the test. As soon as Kuma came in arms length to her, she swiftly tapped a few chakra points on his back and legs. He fell to the ground, not being able to move his left leg and roared out in pain. Hinata had landed a few feet away from him, Byakuugan activated and palms open, ready to attack again.

"I thought you were weak!" Kuma had cried out. He then was in some sort of pain as his muscles grew even bigger on his body. He was ready to attack Hinata. "Hiiiiiiyyyaaaaaa!" Kuma had lifted up a fist and then pounded it to the ground. His brutal hit to the earth had caused a fissure and a couple of stones had come up from below Hinata, striking her to the ground. "Looks like you're not tough enough to handle my attacks."

Hinata got back on her feet and quickly composed herself. 'He may be strong, but his movements are slow. I could try another attack from behind'. Hinata moved quickly to get behind Kuma. "Oh, no you don't! You're not trying that again." The man created another fissure now behind him so that Hinata had to evade her destination point. Hinata then tried jumping high enough in the air and threw a paper-bomb kunai at Kuma, attempting an aerial attack. She managed to hit him and he went down after that attack. He lied there, in a bloody pool, unconscious and hanging on his life by a tiny thread. Hinata huffed due to her being wounded and misguided by his attack but she decided that she should at least tie the man up. She preferred not to kill anyone anyway. Hinata had stayed in the same spot due to exhaustion and she figured that Kiba and Shino would take care of themselves, it would seem. She still had her Byakuugan activated and kept an eye on them.

* * *

Kiba and Akamaru had faced off with the other ninja who was rather swift in movement. They tried their best to dodge his attacks, though, they started to grow tired from moving around so much. "Extreme Fang Over Fang!" Kiba yelled and both him and Akamaru had spun around and created a red aura around their attack. They managed to hit their attacker a couple of times after a few attempts of striking. The ninja had stepped back and landed on a branch nearly stumbling.

"If you want to play that way then I suppose I could make it an even match," said the ninja, now using a summoning jutsu. He had summoned a fierce looking tiger, who's fur was more yellow looking than orange. Kiba had sweat-dropped and Akamaru barked at the tiger. The other ninja smirked as the tiger just let out a roar, then said, "It feels nice to be out, Yuudai."

The tiger pounced at his enemies as Yuudai kept his pace behind his summon.

* * *

The sickly man was out in the open and Shino had managed to keep himself hidden from his foe. "I know you're there somewhere, kid. Why don't you come out and face me like a man." The man just held his ground and looked around, searching for his opponent.

"You wouldn't happen to be working for Osamu Nori, would you?" Shino said, still hidden. He had sent his kikaichu out to sneak up on the man from behind, after all, he wasn't searching for kikaichu, he was searching for a human.

"Heh. Like that is any of your business, kid." The man threw a kunai at the area where he had heard Shino speak. There was no sign that he had hit him. The man grew a little worried after he noticed that Shino mentioned Nori.

"This is my business. Why? I know that you three helped Nori attack my friend, Melissa Nadette." Shino sounded more irritated and angry at this point.

"Well, now that you know about this, I cannot let you three escape." The sickly man still stood there nonchalantly. He all of a sudden felt the lack of energy to stand there any more and fell to his knees, "Wha? What's going on?"

Shino finally appeared out in the open to finish this battle. He had sent more of his kikaichu to fully drain the man of chakra. "My parasitic insects are feeding on your chakra as we speak. I will get answers out of you if you wish to live." Shino walked even closer and held a kunai to the man's throat.

"Ah, so you're a freak just like that girl, eh? Your kind should disappear from this world completely, you freak! You monsters don't deserve to live." The man grinned menacingly and laughed afterwards.

Shino didn't dare flinch at his words, he was used to the ridicule. "Why are you helping Nori and why did you four attack Nadette?" Shino started to feel a little weak and didn't know why. He started to back off a bit because his kikaichu had sensed poison.

"Ha ha! You fell for it," the man snickered and then continued, "My chakra is infused with poison and I have built up an immunity to such deathly poisons. You will die in four hours if you don't get it out of your system."

'Dammit. Why? I never should have jumped in so fast.' Shino started huffing now but still tried to tie up the man. After he tied up the man he just fell to the ground and tried to send the infected kikaichu out from his body but they were oblivious to his command. 'This isn't good!'

"Shino-kun!" Hinata said while jumping to his side.

"I am poisoned," he managed to say while looking up into the sky. Hinata just sat there, feeling helpless. 'I'm going to need a miracle if I want to get out of here alive.'

* * *

Kiba and Akamaru had been pushed to the end of their energy by now. The were too tired to keep up with Yuudai and his tiger. The tiger then jumped for Akamaru as Yuudai went for Kiba. The foes had brought both of them down, the tiger biting down on Akamaru's front leg and Yuudai pushing a kunai into Kiba's left shoulder. 'Dammit! I'm not going to die like this!'

There was a sudden sound of swarming bees and the swarm had attacked Yuudai and his tiger just then. As they were trying to swat them away they were attacked and taken down by a huge white bear. Kiba looked up, wide-eyed and surprised. The bear had attacked the tiger, bit down on him and the tiger was sent back into it's own dimension. "It's good to see that you are alright, young leaf ninja."

"Arthur?" Kiba was really confused but tended to the kunai that had been jabbed in his arm. Yuudai got up after being attacked by Arthur and immediately attacked the bear with all the strength he had left. Before Yuudai even touched a hair on Arthur he was subdued by another ninja.

"You weren't just thinking about attacking my Arthur, were you?" Kiba took a long glance at the kunoichi and noticed that she looked almost exactly like Nadette-san. She didn't even look like she was much older than Nadette but she did hold a more cold, wise look on her face.

The woman had grabbed Yuudai's arms with one oh hers and she crossed her other arm over it. She squeezed the man next to her own body, he passed out instantly from the lack of oxygen. Talk about a bear hug. The woman then picked Yuudai up with one arm and took her other hand to place it on his left rib cage. She squeezed hard until cracks were heard internally. Kiba cringed. "He shouldn't be going anywhere any time soon," the woman said. She then looked over at the wounded Kiba and Akamaru and tossed them some bandages and some peroxide. "Where are the others? Are they close by?"

Kiba pointed to his left and just gaped at the woman. She disappeared in an instant and Arthur followed behind her.

Hinata was still at Shino's side, trying to cool him down with some water drenched bandages. She sensed a ninja and a giant bear coming her way so she rose up in a defensive stance.

Shino just glanced over to see Artio and her giant bear companion, Arthur, heading their way. He wasn't sure how to respond to her appearance but he was somewhat relieved by her presence. "Hinata, it is alright. She is an ally." Hinata nodded and backed up a little as soon as she saw Arthur.

"Shino!" Artio called as she sprinted over to him.

"His kikaichu were poisoned and it had spread through his body when they returned to him."

Artio crouched over him and placed the back of her hand on his forehead. "You're burning up." She then loosened her long scarf and summoned her bees from her body. "I will send my bees in through your body. This may hurt because my workers are quite larger than your kikaichu and chances are that your kikaichu might counter react to my workers. In order for me to extract the poison out from your body, your kikaichu need to be willing."

Shino nodded and relaxed a bit more. "You may feel an intense pain within your entire body but you must endure. You ready?" Shino nodded again and she had immediately sent in quite a few bees into the openings on Shino's skin. He winced from the initial pain but he was willing to go through it to live. While all of this was happening Artio commanded Hinata to hold down Shino's right arm while she held down his left. A few dark spots appeared on Shino's arms due to internal bleeding and he was trying his hardest not to resist. Shino once again gritted his teeth and winced but he didn't dare cry out that he was hurting. He didn't want to seem weak in front of anyone. After a moment of pain, his body started pulsing and the pain started to go away.

"Alright, they're out," Artio said, now wrapping a bandage around the area on Shino's arm where the bees had entered. "You should be fine but you must rest a moment before heading out."

Shino finally gasped for air because during the whole procedure he held his breath. He was still lying there and saw that Hinata had a much more relieved look on her face. "You're bees aren't hurt from the poison?"

"They are momentarily, however, my workers as well as Nadette's are extremely poisonous. The workers as well as my body are immune to most poisons but the workers will be acting a little funny from this type of poison for a while." Artio looked up at the sky and continued, "We should get going after you get some rest, however." She didn't look worried but she sounded like she was.

Kiba and Akamaru had staggered towards the group from the bushes and they came close to Arthur, watching the whole scene. "What happened to Shino?

"He was poisoned so I extracted it with my workers," Artio replied still tending to Shino.

"Who are you anyway?" Shino glared at Kiba for asking the question so insensitively.

Artio had on a pair of sunglasses that were a little similar to Nadette's and she took them off to show her identity. "My name is Melissa Artio, and you two are?"

"Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru." He bowed.

"Hyuuga Hinata. Thank you for helping us, Artio-san," Hinata said almost bowing.

"Yes, thank you," Shino said in his usual tone but he truly was grateful.

"Yes. You three should rest for now, I will make sure to gather up these three goons so that I can aid you youngsters back to the village." They all nodded and watched her jump into the forest to locate the attackers. Arthur stared over at the team intently and was just waiting there, knowing for sure that nothing will harm any of them.

After gathering up the ninja and heading back, the group already made themselves away about five miles from Konoha. The reason why they traveled so fast was because they all rode on Arthur's back while he ran as fast as a giant polar bear would. Shino was still a little out of it but he felt his strength coming back and Hinata tried to keep him from falling off by sitting by his side and gripping his arm whenever she needed to. Both Kiba and Akamaru were snoozing away, exhausted and wounded from their battle. Artio sat on Arthur's forehead, gazing forward and scanning the area as they went by.

They soon reached the village and Kiba and Akamaru decided to take a visit to the hospital. Shino and Hinata thought that they would be fine enough to report back to the Hokage and Artio decided to go with them to drop off the rouge ninja.

* * *

Shibi, Nadette and Auberon came back to the Aburame residence just after finishing a stroll through the woods and went inside to relax. Auberon had a container that held a praying mantis and seemed very happy about it. Shibi had brought out a bigger container for him to store it in while he was explaining to Auberon how to take care of it. Nadette had gone upstairs into her room to find a fidgeting Artaois.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Arthur is close by, I can sense him."

Nadette thought about that for a little bit and then it finally processed in her mind. Her mother should be in the village somewhere, which is fine but she only summons Arthur when she direly needs his help. She just sat down on her bed thinking that things might have been alright since she was in Konoha.

"Aren't you worried at all? Something might be wrong with your mother."

"She's a big girl, I think she can handle herself," Nadette replied and lied down on her bed while crossing her arms behind her head. Artaois frowned and calmed himself soon after and lied his head down on her left leg. He understood Nadette's bitterness towards her mother because she had to raise herself for a long while. He even remembered that Artio hadn't made any notice of Nadette's birthday a couple of days ago and he knew that must have hurt his beloved Nadette.

He then got up after pondering for a couple of minutes and went towards the door, "I will head downstairs and visit with Auberon for a while and then I think I should return home."

"Fine." Nadette got up to let him out and she decided to follow him downstairs because she didn't feel like being alone in her room. She went to sit on a chair in the family room and noticed that Shibi and Auberon were still talking about their caught mantis. Shibi greeted Artaois and Auberon went to pick him up and show him the mantis that he caught. Artaois tried to act like he was interested but Nadette could tell that he still might have been a little worried. She reclined the chair and closed her eyes behind her glasses and sat there, listening to her workers as well as everyone else's conversation.

There was a sudden knock on the door and Shibi rushed to go answer it. Nadette noticed that he looked a little surprised so she got up from her chair to see who it was. Both Artio and a bruised Shino had walked through the door. Nadette was obviously shocked, Auberon was surprised to see his mother and both Shibi and Artaois looked worried.

"Mum!" Auberon called out at Artio. She smiled back at him and hugged him after he ran up to her.

Shibi was inspecting Shino's wounds and he knew immediately what had happened. Nadette also had walked up to Shino, not saying a word but she examined him all the same. At some time Shino blushed from Nadette looking at him up and down.

"What happened?" Nadette had a worried tone and put a finger up to his face where there was a bruise mark. Shino shuddered at her touch, "Are you alright?" She then took her hand back and glanced over at Shibi who focused his attention on her drawn hand. She sweat-dropped but hadn't changed her expression.

"After dealing with our client my team was ambushed by three men. I was poisoned by one of them and Artio-sama had came to extract the poison from within me," Shino reached up to fix his glasses. "I am fine now, despite my appearance."

"What about those ninja?" Nadette had a hunch about who they were.

"I think we should talk about this another time," Artio interrupted while indicating that Auberon was still present. Shino and Shibi nodded. Nadette just stood there and looked down at Artaois who was making his way out the front door. 'He must be greeting Arthur'.

"I should get going as well, it's getting late now," Artio said while still looking down at Auberon. He started to tear up when she said that.

"Can I go with you, Mum. Please?" Auberon tugged on her scarf.

Shibi just stared at her, emotionless and Artio looked back at him, also emotionless.

"Please, just for one night? I haven't spent time with you for a while, Mum." Nadette frowned at Auberon's request because she knew how he felt. Not being able to have a decent relationship with a mother is hard for a child.

"I suppose, Auberon. Just for tonight until things are settled. Gather your clothes for tonight." Auberon went upstairs to collect some clothes for the night and Artio put her hands in her pants pockets while she looked over at Nadette, "How are you holding up?"

"Just fine, thank you." She glared at her mother because she knew that she could get away with such emotions by wearing her sunglasses. Auberon gathered his things and headed downstairs to leave with his mother. He gave Nadette a hug and said goodbye to the Aburame's and then they both walked out.

It was still the middle of the day and Shibi just decided to skip making dinner since there was still some left over stew. He left Shino and Nadette to themselves after he had explained to Shino that there was stew in the fridge and he retired to his room. Shino decided to have a small bowl of stew since he hadn't had much to eat all day so he warmed himself a hearty serving, set his bowl down on the table and finally made himself comfortable in a chair. Nadette decided to join him at the table but she wasn't really hungry at that point. She sat across from him and was still trying to examine his bruises.

"I imagined it hurt," she finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

He nodded and continued eating.

"I'm glad you're alright."

He raised his eyebrows.

She turned her head to the side and grinned wide, "Besides, you're the only person I know well who will take my ridicule."

"You're an evil woman," Shino said in a controlled tone but he sounded playful to Nadette.

She now looked at his spoon that he lifted up and stuck in his mouth. "I know." She tapped her finger on the table a couple of times before she spoke again. "Are you in any shape to go out for a walk?"

"Yes, why?" He had finished his food and started to walk into the kitchen to wash out the bowl.

Nadette followed him to keep up the conversation. When he finished drying out the bowl he set it aside and noticed that Nadette was standing there with her elbow resting on the counter. He blinked at her.

"For old times sake?" She put up one of her hands questioningly.

He nodded and started walking out of the kitchen. "And if you for some reason feel too tired to go on I could carry you on my back. Ha ha!" She slapped his back with one of her hands as she was cracking up with laughter. He just turned around and glared at her. No matter how much he tried or tried not to he knew that he couldn't intimidate her. They walked out the door and the sun was still out but setting behind mountains, creating a beautiful mix of orange, pink and light purple along the sky.

Nadette had inhaled the fresh air very slowly and finally exhaled. She hadn't worn her sunglasses because the sun was just setting. Shino, however, wore his all the time and that was something that Nadette could ever understand. The Aburame clan was very mysterious like that and even more so than just wearing sunglasses at night time. They both walked at an even, fast pace and Shino enjoyed that. He certainly didn't like anyone lagging behind him but he thought that it might have been Nadette's height that contributed to this matter.

They soon reached a trail that leaded into a dense forest and they both stopped for a second. Nadette turned to Shino as if to question him whether or not they should go in and he nodded back at her. They started to walk in and went for a while until they saw a huge tree off to the side of the trail. Nadette smiled and walked over to it and touched it with her hand while Shino just studied her actions. She then continued to walk around it until she found an old carving in it. The carving was covered in moss but Nadette tried to clear some away with her fingers until she revealed her name scribed in the tree. She grinned again and set her back against it while looking off at the sunset through a clearing. Shino was curious about her minute long absence and went around the giant tree to find her resting her back on it. He didn't touch the tree at all but he was close enough to Nadette that he could tell that she was content. She had noticed his company finally and looked over at him while he raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"What's the hold up for?"

"Nostalgia I suppose."

Shino agreed and decided to stand beside her and watched the sunset while placing his hands in his pockets. He looked up at the sky and hadn't thought much of it because he had seen quite a few sunsets in his lifetime but he thought that this moment felt really great. He liked Nadette's company especially.

***flashback***

"Don't stray off too far from the trail. Be careful," Shibi said to Nadette and Shino while holding an empty bug container.

The two nodded in unison and ran ahead of Shibi. Nadette was laughing with joy as Shino was happy to keep up with her. They finally came to a stop as they saw a gigantic tree off to the side. Nadette chuckled and ran off to it and Shino walked behind her, being cautious as always. She walked around the tree while her hand was tracing its circumference and stopped when she got to the other side of it. Shino followed her and stopped behind her when he had seen that her back was facing him.

"What are you doing?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Carving my name in the tree."

"Why?"

"So that I can find it if I ever come back to it."

Shino sighed and turned to her again," That's rather redundant. Why? Because the tree is very noticeable as is."

Nadette ignored his statement and finished carving her name on it with a kunai knife. She stepped back to take a look at it and confirmed that it was legible enough. "Perfect."

Shino stood there confused but he had noticed that her handwriting improved. "Your writing is more legible at least."

Nadette turned to him and smiled in pride, "Thank you! I know. I have been practicing." She put her hands on her hips and huffed. He couldn't help but smile behind his high collar.

They started walking back towards the trail and were conversing on their way. "So, how's your training going? You've just become a genin, correct?"

"Yeah, it's alright. My teammates are a little older than me and like to pick on me sometimes though." Nadette looked down and frowned.

"You are only eleven. It makes perfect sense."

"I guess so. It just sucks sometimes. I wish I could've just graduated in your class so that I wouldn't be alone so much."

Shino frowned, "Why didn't you?"

"I wanted to please my father by doing the best I could. I never do anything right in his eyes."

Shino stopped in front of her and glared, "You should do things for yourself. In my opinion, you're an outstanding kunoichi."

Nadette looked down at him in his eyes and stared, not showing any emotion. "I guess so."

"He's not right to you and you know that." Shino now placed a hand on her shoulder and Nadette was surprised at his emotional gesture that he was displaying. She suddenly hugged him much to his surprise and held him tightly. He raised his brows while blushing deep red.

"You're right. Thank you, Shino-kun."

He hugged her back and rested his chin on her shoulder since she was taller than he was but he didn't mind comforting her. He thought that she was a wonderful person and a great friend.

He nodded and they parted, smiling and walking back towards Shibi.

***end flashback***

"Let's get going," Nadette said, breaking Shino's contemplations.

Shino nodded and followed her around the tree. He finally noticed that she was wearing her gourd, which didn't surprise him much but he did wonder why it was shaped like an ocarina. A weird design if you asked him. He knew that she was into playing the ocarina but he had never heard any songs being played by her before and he thought that it wasn't his place to ask of her at the moment.

"So, tell me," she turned back at him and went on," what happened."

Shino was taken by surprise at her question; he had thought that she wanted to ask something else but he wasn't sure. He paused for a moment but then went into the whole ordeal that happened earlier during the day. While he was telling her, Nadette kept her pace and didn't look or glance at him once.

"And you didn't see my father?" To Shino, she sounded as though she was hurt or upset, according to her tone.

He didn't say anything and paused for a moment, which Nadette really found quite annoying. She finally turned around to look him straight in the eyes and held an intimidating look. This surprised Shino but he didn't show his reaction and he shook his head and stopped at her side. Nadette realized her hostility and frowned at Shino, showing her apology through expression rather than words. He nodded at her and by doing so she developed a smirk on her face. Shino thought that this has probably been the only day in his life that he had ever seen Nadette so susceptible to showing many emotions. He stood there, seeming cool and collected but he smirked himself behind the precious high collar of his.

She went on, concluding her openness to Shino and she was almost expecting him to be at her side and he was. She was glad and let down her guard but not enough to reveal her whole life story to anyone. They continued the path they took and saw that there were two other oncoming passersby. Nadette kept her pace up and Shino had suddenly moved to Nadette's left and walked just a little closer to her and his arm brushed up against hers ever so slightly, almost as if he felt like he had to protect her. She was taken aback at his touch but appreciated his anticipation.

Nadette then noticed that the two people in the distance were actually her old teammates. She slowed her pace and Shino looked back at her to find that she had touched his arm almost to signify to him that he shouldn't be so protective. He took this gesture as a given and slowed his pace as well but continued to be cautious.

One of the ninja looked on and noticed Nadette, "Oi! Nadette-san!" The other ninja then looked on and grinned while they both hurried to greet their old teammate.

"Hey, boys. Long time no see," Nadette said while raising her hand as a greeting. One of them smiled widely while noticing his old teammate and the other took note of Shino's presence and also smiled but looked Shino up and down questioningly. Shino glared back at him with his usual composure and the ninja replaced his smile with a straight face. Nadette had caught their glances and just had to jump in before things would get out of hand. "Shino, these are my teammates, Yoshimitsu," she pointed to the man who was just happy to see Nadette, he had a forlorn look about him and wore the usual outfit of a chuunin, "and Kin." Kin was the ninja who had almost gotten into a stare-down with Shino. He looked rather hardworking and muscular and was almost as tall as Nadette, which was surprising considering Nadette was the tallest person Shino had personally known. "Guys this is my good friend, Aburame Shino. He is a great man. Suppress your hostility to want to attack him."

"Heh, I'll try to," Kin said while trying to hold back a scowl. Shino held his ground but still glared at Kin.

"So how have you been? We haven't seen you in over a month! You're mysterious as always." Yoshimitsu was almost going to hug Nadette before he realized that she didn't care for physical affection much. He backed off instead, also realizing that Shino was at her side and he didn't know what his intentions were with Nadette.

"Well, I have had myself a little occupied with things here and there," Nadette replied and relaxed her posture. "What about you two?"

"We were out training for the Jounin exam and decided to call it a night since the sun is already setting."

"Yeah, I can't believe you of all people would actually become a Jounin, Nadette-san. Heh heh." Kin bellowed and turned to her now grinning. Shino knew that he might have been rash because he was Nadette's teammate but he still didn't like his remark.

"Who was the one out of the group to become a jounin first, eh Kin? I suppose little ol' Nadette had won that bet." She wafted her hand in the air to show her victory. Kin scowled but then shrugged.

"You got lucky is all."

"Oh?" Nadette didn't feel like arguing with him, nonetheless display her superiority so she just stopped her displays and straightened her back.

Yoshimitsu elbowed Kin and frowned at him. "She got ya beat, Kin." He smiled and then took another look at Nadette. He noticed bandages on her torso. "Are you injured?"

"Yoshi-san, it's obvious that I am. Why ask such questions?" She mentally gaped at his obliviousness.

"What happened?" He reached out with a hand and came so close to touching her belly.

She slapped his hand and he quickly took it back. Both Kin and Shino's eyebrows were raised. "I realize you're a physical contact sort of guy but, Yoshi-san, off limits okay? No touchie. There are only very few people in this world who get to touch me there and you are not one of them."

"I apologize, Nadette-san. My mistake," he looked down and frowned. His hazel eyes were gleaming a little and to Shino it seemed as though he was hurt by her last statement.

"I don't really feel like talking about it now either," Nadette said while placing her palm on her wound.

"I wonder," Kin said while looking at Nadette, "if Shino had done this to you. He's got bruises all over himself as well." He scowled at Shino. Nadette just stared, appalled at Kin's remark.

Shino took a step forward and clenched his fists, "I would never hurt Nadette. Why? She is valuable to me." Nadette was surprised at his words and at the same time she was a little disturbed because she thought that he phrased her as being an item but she knew he didn't mean it that way.

"Alright you two, settle down. We should get going anyway," said Nadette while stepping in between the two of them.

"You're going with him? Where to?" Yoshi sounded hesitant.

"That is none of your business, Yoshi-san." Kin crossed his arms and Yoshi was almost on the verge of tears. Nadette then grinned and looked smug and continued, "I'm not going home, however, and I wont be there for a while," she sounded playful and convincing but both Yoshi and Kin had terrified expressions. Shino raised his eyebrows as a reaction. "Let's go now, Shino-kun," Nadette said grinning while she took Shino's hand. Shino looked quite surprised and blushed at Nadette's gesture. "Goodnight boys, I'll see you around."

Her two teammates stood there, gaping and staring for moments and just watched Nadette walk off with Shino, her hand in his. They took another path after Nadette and Shino had parted and they were both scowling for whatever reasons.

Shino couldn't help but feel a little flustered after that happened. 'She's still holding my hand. And she called me Shino-kun', he thought all the while pacing behind her, lagging unusually. He was utterly confused and overwhelmed all at once. Nadette noticed that he was lingering behind her and that they were still holding hands and she blushed a little to herself. She soon let go of Shino's hand but still kept walking because she certainly didn't want Shino to see her bright red, blushing face. He withdrew his hand and placed it at his side where it should have been.

He did realize that she had said those things because she just probably wanted to avoid her teammates but deep down he felt really great about holding her hand and making other men jealous from being with her. Shino thought that she was beautiful, despite her hosting bees or having a height advantage or even for having a quick temper and he never thought that he would have a chance with her at anything besides friendship. He wasn't vain or shallow in the least but it's hard for a member of the Aburame clan to find partners since they were seen as appalling to outsiders. He composed himself and kept up with Nadette, trying to glance at her through the corner of his eye and what he did see was a modest smile. He smiled to himself, being reassured by her emotion.

"Well," Nadette said, "I think I'm going to need a nice hot bath when we get back." She tried to change the subject but then realized that her statement might have been a little TMI for Shino. No matter how good of friends they were Nadette wasn't fond of being mentally undressed by anyone. She sighed and frowned but Shino hadn't thought much of it.

Much to Nadette's surprise, Shino had cleared his throat and spoke up, "Why did you call me Shino-kun? You haven't called me that in years." To Nadette he looked a little uncomfortable asking that question.

"I like to give my teammates a hard time is all," she said while giggling quietly. She then looked back up at the starry sky, "Would you prefer if I called you that, Shino-kun?" She tried to hide a smile from him but he had noticed it and didn't say anything more to her. They walked home in silence and both felt a little refreshed from the cold air. Not one word was said and to the both of them it felt like they spent an eternity trying to think of something to say to each other. They finally reached the front door and Shino let her walk through first. She stood there for a moment and then turned to Shino who was now focusing on her.

"I had a great time. Thank you for going on a walk with me."

"You're welcome," Shino said and nodded. He stood there longer after he had replied because he was expecting her to say something else, as implied through her tone.

She knew that he was waiting on her to add on and she was quite surprised at how good he was with reading body language. She lightly blushed and turned her head to the side while still trying to make eye contact with him, "So, where are the towels around here?" Shino nearly face-palmed himself mentally when he heard her question because he was hoping for something else to be said, and yet again, he just didn't know what or why. He walked upstairs with his head hanging a little lower than usual, sulking and Nadette followed behind. He opened up a closet full of towels and leaned against the wall next to it, crossing his arms. She had grabbed a towel and noticed that Shino was still present and she couldn't understand why.

"What's up?" She said while walking over to her room and opening the door to retrieve some clothes.

He stood there, respecting her privacy but didn't say anything and paused for a moment. Nadette grabbed her clothes and was intently listening to hear if he would say anything and when he hadn't she had gotten frustrated. Why must the Aburame's have such quirks?

She came back out of her room and closed the door behind her to find Shino standing really close to her so she stepped back. She had enough distance between them to look directly in his eyes because she wanted to respect his pride for his height but he could care less of how much taller she was than him and she didn't know that. He didn't say anything and Nadette grew a little frustrated but placed her emotion aside and finally said, "Thank you and goodnight, Shino-kun." She then hugged him, unexpected by the both of them but Nadette was too tired to care about boundaries at this point. She looked down at him and noticed that he hadn't hugged back and that was fine with her, considering that he must've been surprised or appalled by her physical contact and she also noticed that when she did hug him that his head rests only slightly above her bosom. She pulled away and noticed him blushing but he hadn't really moved at all. She blushed herself and turned away to yawn and stretch and finally said, "You should rest up as well to rid your handsome face from all those awful bruises. Goodnight finally, Shino-kun," she finished with a waving hand in the air as if to dismiss him. She walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, leaving him gaping and blushing in the hallway.

"Handsome?"

Shino made his way to his room and quietly shut the door behind him. He didn't turn on the light because his eyes were already adjusted to the soothing darkness so he had his kikaichu guide him towards his bed, where he lied down and thought about Nadette and why his heart raced every time she touched him even the slightest and simplest. Shino also wondered why it felt so wholesome just to be around her presence. Maybe it was her chakra? He remembered some time ago about his father explaining to him that when an Aburame meets their spouse that the kikaichu within them start to react positively because of the other person's chakra. He wondered if the same was true for Nadette and he wondered if he made her feel the same way when he graced her with his presence.

He touched his face where his bruises were and thought about what happened earlier in the day and how Artio had saved him. He thought about her and Nadette and knew that they both resembled each other almost down to a T but he felt that Nadette had much more warmth and beauty, whereas Artio looked very cold and aloof. He had known Artio almost all of his life and he knew at one point that she was lively but he wasn't sure anymore.

He reached for his sunglasses and finally took them off, knowing that he was comfortable in his own room, not that he had anything to hide. He took off the rest of his attire and changed into sleepwear, just a plain old shirt and sweats. He lied down for the final time and thought about Nadette once more while closing his eyes.

End chapter 3

Once again, thanks for reviewing and all those hits. I also tried to add in more flashbacks of young Nadette and Shino just because I thought they were cute and so did some reviewers, so there you go, as a reward/apology on my part. I enjoyed writing this chapter for some reason. Yes, there are yet more new characters but not many more to come. I was also thinking of including some drawing reference sheets in the next chapters to give you all an idea of how my characters look if anyone is interested.

Also, ooooh, Shino is developing some butterflies in his stomach?

I love the Aburame's, especially Shino. I think they really did deserve more scenes/downtime in the manga as well as the anime. Oh well, all I can do is dream.

Remember, please leave reviews and feedback if you have any. Questions are also always welcome.

Thanks for reading~


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